The present invention is directed to a modular housing system for electronic packages, in particular, in the field of data technology, which are composed of capping pieces of, in particular, extruded sections provided with guide grooves in a longitudinal direction that are modularly joined with corner nodes and connect or elements adaptable for the respective application.
The structuring of electronic equipment, in particular in the field of data technology, that can be quickly varied and that is simple to construct requires a universal housing concept which permits customized housing. Previously, specific housings corresponding to the required demands were frequently created for smaller systems and apparatus. Identical basic designs are at most used for the framing and in a variety of facade or cover parts, these basic designs not allowing for any variation in height. A disadvantage of these systems is particularly seen in the constantly recurring development requirements for new products. A further disadvantage is the limited use of the same parts and tools for different products. The difficulty in providing common housing parts and the non-uniform appearance as viewed over several products are additional drawbacks in the prior art.
For these reasons a more flexible housing format has been sought. Thus, for example, there is a system, the ITEM MB-system, for resolving a variety of technical problems, examples thereof being described in the brochure of the ITEM Company, Industrietechnik und Maschinenbau. In this system, extruded sections having different cross sections are screwed to one another and tenon blocks with which it is possible to fasten a great variety of elements are introducible into guide channels. This system, however, is mainly suited as a shelving system for workshops in order to provide variable storing space for a wide variety of warehouse products. Smaller dimensions of the section would be necessary for weight reasons when used as a cabinet system such as, for example, in the field of data technology. Considerable problems, however, would result due to the nature of the section design, since in order, for example, to attach screwed connections and the like, the necessary strength would not longer be present for a proportional reduction of the section selected. Moreover, additional holes must be bored in corner connectors dependent on the utilization, these making assembly more difficult and increasing the time expended.
German Patent 32 26 192 discloses corner connectors for connecting capping pieces at the corners for constructing racks of hollow tubes. The corner connectors which are fashioned in three directions perpendicularly relative to one another, are plugged into the hollow tubes and are glued thereto. Such a design, however, has the disadvantages associated with gluing techniques, for example a long set-up time, long curing time and, as a result, a great need for fabrication area and apparatus.